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Topic: how reliable are cheap third party flashes (yongnuo) (Read 11585 times)

I've read that one forum administrator had his fail in the middle of a wedding shoot. I think the flashes are fine for casual users, but putting your expensive wedding shoot at risk to safe a few bucks might bite you. I guess you could always buy spares, and toss them as they die, but you might still lose a critical shot.

They did have a modification to the 560 in 2011 after the early models were dropping like flies, haven't heard a lot of complaints lately.

SpareImp, the YN460 is strickly manual. Note that it only has the single contact on its foot. It lacks the "intelligence" to be controlled from the camera.

As for failure rate vs. more expensive flashes, I've owned two expensive Canon's -- a 380EX and a 430EX. Neither saw a lot of use, but 380EX died during a party. I replaced it with the 430EX. Anectdotally, that's a 50% failure rate. Frankly, this is why I lean more on the Yongnuo's. A failed $45 flash is easire to absorb than a failed $270 flash.

Still, I do expect the Canon flashes to be more reliable. It is still my first choice for single flash, on-the-go occasions when I want the camera to control it.

By using several YN460's for staged shoots, spares are built in to the equation. But, this is for non-professional use. If wedding or portrait photography was a money-making venture, I think it would be easier to afford (and write off) several Canon flashes. From my perspective, spares are needed regardless the brand.

Canon has had problems with entire product runs, "fixed" the problem under warranty if you had one that was lucky enough to fail under warranty, and told anyone out of warranty to pound sand, effectively, since the repair cost was within a few dollars of total replacement. Was it the 580EXii and 430EXii models? Goin' on memory with that...

I think the point that everyone here is trying to make is that all flashes, whether it's a cheap one like a Yongnuo or a pricey Canon, can die. The main thing to remember is that if you're a commercial photographer, you need to ensure that you're covered for if/when this happens (and always carry backup units). If you want a warranty, I'd suggest you buy a Canon flash from a local authorised dealer.

I currently have two Yongnuo 565EX flashes, a Canon 580 EX, and a Canon 580EX II.

Canon 580EX - Synchronization is now off in the flash, preventing me from using it for my high speed work.Canon 580EX II - Miniport no longer works. I have to use a hotshoe to trigger itYongnuo 565EX - Both of them still work fine

I personally can't speak about the Yongnuo, but until recently I used to have a couple of Meike 580. Basically Chinese 580ex copies but with most of the advance functionality removed.

In my personal opinion, the old adage "you get what you pay for" is especially pertinent when it come to flash guns. The Mieke’s I had were horribly inconsistent and unreliable. They rarely worked with other third party radio triggers (in this instance Pixel Kings). I got phenomenally frustrated with the whole set up and nearly lost interest in flash photography as I found the kit so problematic.

In the end, I sold the lot, saved up the extra cash and bought myself the new 600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT. There is now no pain or anguish – things just work.

It seems from the forum that others have had better success than I with third party flash equipment. But from my experience, my conclusion was simple - putting a third party flashgun on my 5d Mk III, was like adding a luggage-roof-rack to an Aston Martin – cheap and does the job, but looks ugly and you’d never know what state your luggage (photos) would end up in and you’d always feel like it’s ruining/limiting the performance of the car (camera).

I currently have two Yongnuo 565EX flashes, a Canon 580 EX, and a Canon 580EX II.

Canon 580EX - Synchronization is now off in the flash, preventing me from using it for my high speed work.Canon 580EX II - Miniport no longer works. I have to use a hotshoe to trigger itYongnuo 565EX - Both of them still work fine

I'm hearing more and more stories like this. A few years ago, Yongnuo got a bad rap because a lot of bad units were making their way past QC. The company seems to have improved this, though, and I'm hearing of much fewer reports of bad units being shipped. Personally, I have two 560's, and they work just fine for my occasional use.

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In landscape photography, when you shoot is more important than where.

I have two YV-560 II and they work flawlessly. I actually prefer them to my 430 exii, the controls are so easy to use. Changing power is childsplay. The build quality is also pretty good considering the price. Makes me wonder why Canon charge so much. I guess for ettl? Which is not that great really. I prefer manual flash nowadays as I like to keep shot to shot consistency and learn lighting as I go. Plus the YN's have a built in optical slave mode. Why does Canon not have this basic feature?

I paired up the YN-560 with the 603 triggers and it all works just fine. I do get a misfire but it seems to be the first shot after changing settings and or after a "wake up". Does anyone have a fix for that?

Otherwise brilliant, simple combo. Love it so much I might buy 3 or 4 more just for kicks!

has someone really put the yongnuo flashes to the test?i mean on a real shoot that stresses the flash.

should i go fore a cheap one or better stick to canon?

ps: i shoot manual, not ETTL, most of the time.

My Yongnuos died on me during photoshoot

Last weekend I received a surprise gift from my wife ... and it was a Yangnuo YN-568EX for my Nikon D7000. It is an ok speedlite for the money ($180) ... the flash out put works well and it communicates well with the camera in i-TTL (Canon E-TTL) ... but I would have spent another $170 and get the SB-700 ... if I could help it I would have never bought it ... reasons:1. There are visible gaps between the moldings, even a little bit of water could easily reach inside and short circuit the speedlite.2. Even though YN568EX is taller than the SB700, they both weigh the same (Yongnuo 360gms & SB700 350 gms) due to Yangnuo's much cheaper plastic 3. The wide angle diffuser panel is stiff to pull out4. The up/down flash head movement is stiff and jerkyIf used extensively I don't see the YN568EX lasting very long ... also moderate falls will not be very kind on this unit ... having said that, I don't see any reason why it won't last long if it is not "pushed" too much and used moderately.I've seen some people compare YN568EX favorably against 600 EX-RT, they probably never held or used the 600 EX-RT ... simply put YN568EX is an ok purchase for $180 but is no match for a Nikon SB700 or Canon 580 EX II or Nikon SB910 and let alone the Canon 600 EX-RT.Having said that, it is perfect for my Nikon D7000 as it is will not be used heavily. My personal experiance is, get the YN568EX if you don't intend to use it heavily and don't want to spend more than $180 ... but if you are willing to spend another $75, get the 430 EX II

has someone really put the yongnuo flashes to the test?i mean on a real shoot that stresses the flash.

should i go fore a cheap one or better stick to canon?

ps: i shoot manual, not ETTL, most of the time.

My Yongnuos died on me during photoshoot

my canons did the same.

i have canon 580 ex ii, 430 ex ii and a few yongnuos (2x 565, 3x 568).yongnuos are hard to beat for the price. i use them manually most of the time.but i need ETTL versions to setup the power wireless via radio triggers.

i don´t know how many flashes canon sells and how many yongnuo sells.but when i look at the price, i guess more yongnuos are sold then canons.

for me the ratio is 2:5.when i read strobist forums i see many who have one or two canon flashes but a few third party flashes.

so statistically it´s no wonder when you hear more about broken yongnuo flashes then canons.

Today i had my YN-622c eTTL trigger in the mail and they feel very durable and well built, they also look very nice with the shiny surface on top. The feature set is impressive for 80€ triggers. Now I can change my flash output from the camera and won't need to go to the flash and fiddle with the buttons, which (let's be honest) looks not very professional on a portrait shoot.

I will buy a YN-565 with another set of triggers in the future when one light isn't enough anymore.

The YN-622c is a TTL trigger. With TTL flashes you can indeed change output directly from the camera menu. However, as the 560 II or III is a manual version, you can't change output of that flash by the YN-622 trigger. You can do that only for TTL flashes like 430II, 600RT, 565EX and 568EX. Be aware that also the 560EX is not remotely changeble as this ttl flash can function only in TTL by optical connection and NOT straight from the hotshoe.

Never the less, I have a lot of Youngnuo products and I am very pleased with it.

Today i had my YN-622c eTTL trigger in the mail and they feel very durable and well built, they also look very nice with the shiny surface on top. The feature set is impressive for 80€ triggers. Now I can change my flash output from the camera and won't need to go to the flash and fiddle with the buttons, which (let's be honest) looks not very professional on a portrait shoot.

I will buy a YN-565 with another set of triggers in the future when one light isn't enough anymore.

The YN-622c is a TTL trigger. With TTL flashes you can indeed change output directly from the camera menu. However, as the 560 II or III is a manual version, you can't change output of that flash by the YN-622 trigger. You can do that only for TTL flashes like 430II, 600RT, 565EX and 568EX. Be aware that also the 560EX is not remotely changeble as this ttl flash can function only in TTL by optical connection and NOT straight from the hotshoe.

Never the less, I have a lot of Youngnuo products and I am very pleased with it.

Some AA rechargeables are a little shorter than std AAs....hence funky operation. I had battery door failure on two YN568EXii's. Fix shown here on the forum. Inside....looked well made. Large components were shock mounted with hot glue, not just flopping about. Very neat little cable connectors. Plasitc case is reasonably thick. Worth the price paid I'd say.

When switching 622s a lot....I needed to clear memory one or twice to restore full function....Going from 7D to 5Dii. They got confused. No big deal there.